Milan, Italy: In March Ukrainian President Jushchenko vetoed a draft law aiming to regulate the country's volunteer movement (draft law No7550). The veto may have been the reaction to protests of experienced Ukrainian NGOs active in the field of volunteer work which they have forwarded in forms of protest letters to the President.

According to Ukrainian experts and NGOs, the draft legislation deserves several improvements on issues like the volunteers' status and social guarantees for volunteers. The presidential veto offers now the opportunity to local NGOs to develop such improvements and to present them to the lawmaking institutions in form of recommendations.